Salzburg face Färjestad BK in Champions Hockey League quarter-final first leg

In the Champions Hockey League quarter-final first leg, EC Red Bull Salzburg face the top team from the league phase, Färjestad Karlstad, in front of their home fans on Tuesday. ORF SPORT + will broadcast the match live from 18:00. The second leg will take place on 17 December.

02 December 20241 min read

EC Red Bull Salzburg have reached the Champions Hockey League quarter-finals for the second time in their history. The reigning win2day ICE Hockey League champions will face the top team from the league phase, Färjestad Karlstad, who are also performing strongly in their domestic league and currently sit in second place.

They have won each of their past five league matches. By comparison, Salzburg have won six of their past seven games in the win2day ICE Hockey League and sit in third place.

In the Champions Hockey League, the Swedes narrowly overcame Tappara Tampere in the round of sixteen. After a 3:2 away win in the first leg, they suffered a 2:3 defeat in the second leg, sending the tie into overtime. The Swedes scored the decisive goal after just under three minutes of overtime. They won all six of their matches in the league phase.

Salzburg also overcame a Finnish team in the round of sixteen, but had considerably fewer problems than Färjestad. After a 2:1 away win at the Lahti Pelicans, the Red Bulls prevailed comfortably at home by 5:0. The Red Bulls have never faced Färjestad in a competitive match before.

CHL playoff format

The top 16 teams in the 24-team field contest the playoff round of sixteen. No. 1st plays No. 16th, No. 2nd plays No. 15th, and so on. This determines the playoff bracket through to the final. Playoff ties are decided over two legs, with aggregate score determining the winner if the teams are level on points. Only the final is played as a winner-takes-all match.